M \ I ERIAL CULT1 R] 



made the use of (•.•moo impractical, whereas along the 

 great Lakes the broad expanse of water offered every 

 advantage to their use. Since almost every Plains 

 tribe used some form of the bull-boat for ferrying, and 



many of them came in contact with canoe-using 

 [ndianSj the failure of those living along the Missouri 

 to develop the canoe can scarcely be attributed to 

 ignorance. 



When on the march, baggage was carried on the 

 human back and also by dogs, the only aboriginal 

 domestic animals. Most tribes used a peculiar A- 

 shaped contrivance, known as a dog travois, upon which 

 packs were placed. All the northern tribes are credited 

 with the dog travois. Many of the Village tribes also 

 used it, as did also some of the southern group. With 

 the introduction of the horse, a larger but similar 

 travois was used. This, however, did not entirely dis- 

 place the dog travois as Catlin's sketches show Indians 

 on the march with both horses and dogs harnessed to 

 travois. The travois of the northern tribes were of two 

 types : rectangular cross-frames and oval netted frames, 

 Fig. 6. The Blackfoot, Sarsi and Gros Ventre inclined 

 toward the former; the Assiniboin, Dakota, Hidatsa, 

 and Mandan toward the latter, though both types were 

 often used simultaneously. On the other hand, the 

 southern tribes seem to have inclined toward an im- 

 provised travois formed by binding tipi poles to the 

 sides of the saddle and slinging the pack across behind. 



The use of a sled on the ice or snow has not been 

 credited to any except some of the Eastern Dakota 



